Wilmington Council OKs spending of leftover travel money

Friday

Jun 21, 2013 at 12:03 PM

Overall, the council members spent a little more than $12,000, or about 60 percent of the money budgeted for their travel.

By Julian MarchJulian.March@StarNewsOnline.com

Wilmington Councilwoman Laura Padgett, who racked up travel expenses over her personal limit this year, is now entitled to any leftover money.Padgett asked for approval to dip into a pot of unspent money in the $20,000 travel budget, although the policy says no money will be issued after individual limits are met. The six council members are each entitled to an annual travel budget of $2,750, while the mayor can spend up to $3,500. At the end of Tuesday's regular meeting, Padgett made a motion that council allow reimbursements exceeding individual limits. "And the reason for that is that there is a fund of money that has not been spent and there are some expenses – mine, I don't know about the rest of council – that have not been reimbursed in the process of representing the city out of town at meetings," she said.Padgett was the sole council member to exceed the limit. She has spent nearly $4,556, according to travel records. Mayor Bill Saffo billed the second highest amount – almost $2,211.Overall, the council members spent a little more than $12,000, or about 60 percent of the money budgeted for their travel. Any remaining travel funds will be returned to the city's general fund.Leftover moneyThe decision, which passed 6-1, only applies to travel expenses from the current fiscal year that ends June 30.Initially, Padgett wanted the council to extend the approval to use leftover money to the upcoming fiscal year, but later withdrew it after an objection from Councilwoman Margaret Haynes.Haynes, who said she had no problem with making an exception this year, said more parameters may be needed in the future. For example, if more than one council member exceeded the limit, how should leftover money be divided?"Should it be dependent on what they did and where they went?" Haynes said.Padgett, who said she understood Haynes' concern, then amended her motion to exclude next year. Councilman Neil Anderson, who cast the sole vote against the measure, opposed making exceptions."If we have an issue with not enough travel budget, we need to address that through the budget process and the city manager and, if that's an issue, get support from the council to do that," Anderson said. "I'm uncomfortable with it, I'll just say. We have individual travel budgets and just because there's money left over to cover – it just doesn't sit quite right with me."The latest substantive change to the council's travel policy was in 2011, which set the current travel limits and cut two funds, one for special committee service and another pooled fund. At the same time, the policy was updated to say, "No additional travel funds will be available once individual allotments are exhausted." Those changes came on the heels of reports that Padgett overspent her allocated travel funds. At the time, members were allotted $1,750 for travel and Padgett spent more than $7,000.Value of travelIn an interview, Padgett defended her travel, and said a single trip where she spends two or three nights eats up more than half her individual budget."That's constricting if council members want to be part of various state and national organizations," she said. Padgett sits on a transportation committee for the National League of Cities and has served on several committees for the N.C. League of Municipalities. While she would not go so far as to say council's $20,000 travel budget should be raised, Padgett said the process could be handled differently.In some cases, other council members can't fit out of town meetings into their schedules."If they can't go or choose not to, then it seems like the funds should be made available in some way, shape or form, to other council members," Padgett said.She said she waited until the end of the fiscal year to request to dip into unused dollars to make sure there was money left over. Generally, when she attends meetings, Padgett said she is tasked with speaking on a panel or serving as moderator.Padgett was the only council member to attend a December National League of Cities meeting, held in Boston. "Frankly, it was chock full of good ideas and good discussions," she said, adding that she emailed the entire council with ideas. One of the ideas that came out of the meeting, about using public/private partnerships to revitalize areas, was put into practice, Padgett said. In April, the council voted to enter into a contract with a special University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill team, which will be paid $50,000, in part, to evaluate the future of the long-discussed Water Street parking deck.Different individual limits?When Anderson voted against Padgett's request Tuesday night, he said his first reaction was, "We have a budget that we're given, live within it. Pretty simple."Instead of trading dollars at the end of the year, Anderson said members should pick what they want to go to ahead of time. Yet he understands some council members will have more opportunity to travel than others."I also have a full-time job," Anderson said. "Some other people are retired and have more opportunities, more time to go."Padgett, for example, is the city's liaison to the transportation world, he said, adding that maybe council should scrap the idea of homogenized individual limits.Anderson said he wouldn't object to the mayor getting an even larger pot of money, or discussing whether the council's representative to a specific board – such as the region's Transportation Advisory Committee – should get an extra $1,000 in travel compensation. But if council members do travel, they need to be ready to defend why they went and what they got out of the trip. "I'm sure people are critical of it," said Anderson, who only spent $351.24. "I'm probably a skeptic of it, which you can see by how much I travel."

Julian March: 343-2099On Twitter: @julian_march

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